Framing Black Communist Labour Union Activism in the Atlantic World: James W. Ford and the Establishment of the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers, 1928–1931

Abstract

The International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers (ITUCNW) was a radical trans-Atlantic network for the propagation of black proletarian internationalism, established by the Red International of Labour Unions in 1928. Its key mastermind was James W. Ford, an African American communist labour union activist who was in charge of the organization and its operations until the autumn of 1931. This article critically highlights Ford's ambitions as well as the early phase of the organization. Both in terms of its agenda and objective as well as in its outreach among black workers in the Black Atlantic, the ITUCNW and its main propagators stressed the “class-before-race” argument of the Comintern rather than the pan-Africanist “race-before-class” approach. This is not surprising as the ITUCNW was one of the organizations that had been established when the Comintern and the RILU had started to apply the “class-against-class” doctrine, which left no room for cooperation between communists and radical pan-Africanists.

Critical Review of Trade Union Movement in Africa: Challenges, Prospects, and the Future of Work

“…Lots of unions also sprang up in Ghana after the period and in 1945, all the unions operating in Ghana were formally registered under the Trade Union Ordinance law which was enacted in Ghana in 1941. Many union members also came together in 1954 to put forth a proposal for all the unions to be amalgamated, the proposal was approved, paving way for all the local unions to be amalgamated to have a stronger and more formidable trade union in Ghana (Weiss, 2019). This amalgamation paved the way for the continuous growth and development of the trade union movement in Ghana.…”

“…The problem faced by many Trade Unions in Africa can be considered systematic as the system in most African countries is yet to see Trade Unions as partners in progress and issues that could be easily resolved are sometimes left to linger more than necessary. Pockets of crisis between Trade Unions and Government in many African countries is still been recorded from time to time as confrontations and breakdown of negotiations occur sometimes leading to the inability of trade unions to be able to fully enforce the rights of their members (Weiss, 2019). While some studies on Trade Union especially from the African context have made attempts to address some of the issues related to the Trade Union and their mode of operations, this study will be doing a holistic appraisal, of the likely challenges and proffering solutions to some of the issues.…”